Postgame notes, quotes and observations on Raiders-Bucs game

At one point Sunday, things looked promising for the Raiders. The Denver Broncos trailed the Cincinnati Bengals 20-17 in the fourth quarter and the Raiders seemed poised to forge a first-place tie in the AFC West with a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaners.
Then, the Broncos rallied for a 31-23 victory and the Raiders got run over by rookie running back Doug Martin and the Buccaneers at the Coliseum in a 42-32 loss.
Now, the Raiders are at 3-5, two games behind the Broncos and one game behind the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West, with losses against both teams, to boot.
How they got here is quite mind-boggling. The Raiders entered the locker room with a 10-7 lead, only to watch the Buccaneers score five touchdowns in the second half, three on runs of 45, 67 and 70 yards by Martin.
“We didn’t make enough plays to win the game but we were successful moving the football,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. “Our team hung in there, our team battled. We tried to make a comeback and came up a little bit short.”
That the Raiders were even in the game at the end is somewhat remarkable.
The Buccaneers led 35-17 in the fourth quarter before the Raiders mounted a furious comeback.
Quarterback Carson Palmer cobbled together back-to-back drives that netted two touchdowns and 145 yards on 18 plays to make it 35-32. Then, they got the ball back with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left at their own 36-yard line.
Surely, the Raiders would navigate their way into Sebastian Janikowski’s field-goal range — about 20 yards — and then take a few shots at a touchdown.
No. That wasn’t the plan. The Raiders had the Bucs defense on its heels, and they wanted to finish it off right then and there.
“We were trying to win the game,” Allen said. “We were definitely trying to win the game and, obviously, we didn’t execute good enough and weren’t able to do it.”
Palmer launched back-to-back 20-yard passes, the first for wide receiver Rod Streater, the second for receiver Denarius Moore.
Palmer’s first pass fell incomplete. His second pass fell into the hands of Bucs safety Ahmad Black, who returned the ball 34 yards. Martin sealed the outcome with his fourth touchdown three plays later.
“Obviously, to come back and then to not finish a team, it was difficult,” Palmer said. “But we fought, showed a lot of heart. But didn’t make enough plays when it was all said and done.”

— Martin finished with 251 yards rushing, with 220 of that coming in the second half and 182 of that 220 on the three long touchdown runs.
Not what many expected from a Raiders defense that played well against the run in recent games. The Raiders entered the game having allowed an average of 102.1 yards their first seven games, at an average of 3.9 per carry.
The Bucs amassed 278 yards and 8.7 per carry.
It was all a bit much for Raiders cornerback Michael Huff to digest, especially when he predicted the Raiders would be a top-five defense this season.
“I still don’t know what really happened,” Huff said. “We played so well in the first half; we gave up a few big plays but nothing really to beat us. Then the second half was kind of a snowball effect. We couldn’t stop the run, we couldn’t stop the pass.”
Martin is an Oakland native. His career game came before numerous family members, friends and former coaches.
“It’s awesome,” Martin said. “Words can’t describe it. I had a lot of family and friends, and high school teammates, schoolmates and teachers. It’s just indescribable.”

— The Raiders allowed 515 yards on Sunday. That’s quite a contrast to the previous three games when the Raiders held their opponents under 300 yards in each game.
Missed tackles, an inability to pressure quarterback Josh Freeman on a consistent basis, missed tackles, blown coverages, you name it, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
“We didn’t tackle well,” Allen said. “They did a good job of blocking, the runner did a great job of running, and we had an opportunity to make a few plays and missed some tackles. And when you miss tackles on that guy, he takes it for big gains and that’s exactly what happened.”

— Raiders tight end Brandon Myers scored two of Oakland’s four touchdowns Sunday.
Go figure. Myers entered the game without a touchdown during his 3 1/2-year NFL career. Overall, Myers finished with eight receptions for 59 yards in his breakout season as the Raiders starting tight end.

— Palmer passed for 414 yards and four touchdowns. However, he also had three of his 61 passes intercepted, including the one that ended their comeback.
Palmer came within 4 yards of breaking his Raiders record and 11 of setting the Raiders franchise record, set by Jeff Hostetler.
He took the blame making poor throws and decisions on the interceptions. In the locker room, he received nothing but praise for bringing back the Raiders from a huge deficit.
“Obviously, you can sit back and wish you did it differently after a loss; and after a win, everything looks right,” Palmer said. “We had some critical errors. I had some critical errors.”
Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey said Palmer had the players believing the whole time.
“Carson’s the type of guy, he has the talent to bring us back,” Heyward-Bey said. “But it’s all about his leadership. The stuff he was staying in the huddle, just keeping us into the game, making us believe we could make a play.
“At first he was like, ‘We just need one. Now we need two.’ We went out there and tried to make it happen but, unfortunately, we just ended up on the wrong end.”

— Defensive lineman Desmond Bryant was taken to a local hospital with an accelerated heartbeat early in the second half, a team official said.
The official said Bryant was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. No other update was provided.

— Lamarr Houston turned in the key play on special teams when he blocked a field-goal attempt in the first quarter and returned it 34 yards.
The Raiders cashed in the drive with a Janikowski field goal.
It turned out to be a mixed bag on special teams play overall.
Shane Lechler faked a punt in the second quarter, throwing a short pass to running back Taiwan Jones. The Bucs sniffed out the fake, tackled Jones well shy of the first-down marker and took over on downs.
“It’s part of some things that we have in our arsenal,” Allen said. “They brought the gunner in and they did a nice job of adjusting back out and they made the play and we didn’t.”

— Running back Darren McFadden rushed for 17 yards on seven carries before leaving the game with a right ankle injury.
“I’m not really sure the extent of it,” Allen said. “The X-rays were negative but, obviously. we’ll have to take a look at it and see where he’s at.”
Making matters worse, backup back Mike Goodson also suffered an ankle injury, and he wasn’t able to finish the game.
Allen said Goodson did not receive X-rays on his ankle.
For now, the Raiders might be looking at more of Jones and fullback Marcel Reece if McFadden and Goodson aren’t able to play next Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
They also have the potential to sign a free agent or sign rookie Jeremy Stewart from their practice squad.

— The Buccaneers beat the Raiders at home for the firs time in six tries. Overall, the Raiders lead the series 6-3, including a loss in the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season.

— Huff and Moore had games they would just as soon forget.
Huff got beat by receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams for touchdowns, and he was part of a duo that got beat by Jackson on a 64-yard pass a few plays before he got behind Huff for a 20-yard touchdown.
Huff also gambled on an out route to Williams that quarterback Josh Freeman delivered just out of Huff’s reach, with Williams turning the short reception into a long gain.
Moore caught only four of the nine passes thrown his way. It looked as if he and Palmer were out of synch more times than they were on the same page.
One play, Palmer sailed a pass 25-30 yards over Moore’s head, perhaps expecting Moore to keep running. A couple of other passes hit off Moore’s hands and went incomplete.

Steve Corkran

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Shane did boot a long one yesterday! That was kinda missing for a bit!

Marks hair

I dont want to be 7-9 or 8-8 forever… lose some games get some good picks clear the cap and sign real stars.

nycraider

Marks Hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:46 am
701… you dont get it… i want tp to help us lose
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your right , i dont get it..i dont and cant support losing for a better draft pick.

Marks hair

Tarvers d wont work without passrushers and knapps o wont work without wrs.

nycraider

Marks Hair- you one of the guys who constantly wants knapp fired. I do too, but for the raiders to improve. why would you want knapp fired when all you care about is a better draft pick

Marks hair

705. Your very short sighted then. Must be young.

guest123

The only league where tanking for draft picks works is in the NBA. Teams that barely miss the playoffs in the NBA usually continue a long dry run because of middling draft picks.

But the NFL is a different animal. The only high pick that can turn a franchise around quickly is the QB. And we really don’t need one of these around here. Drafting a top college QB with Palmer’s money and cap value on the books and ignoring the glaring holes on the defensive line is a recipe for just picking another top pick the next year and on and on.

How many years do you want to suck for the top pick? A decade? How much time you got?

Just Win Baby

Marks hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:49 am
Tarvers d wont work without passrushers and knapps o wont work without wrs.

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No defense will work without pass rushers and no offense will work without wr.

Marks hair

Ive never liked knapp as a coach. Dont want him here next yr. It starts with coaching and ends with talent. The rest is bs.

guest123

708. You calling others short-sighted when in fact you are just naive. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to remove the blinders from your eyes.

show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.

Marks hair

The colts tanked on purpose last yr!!!!! Duh! They knew peyton was going to be out and they didnt add a dollar to that roster.. went with a terrible qb last yr. Got the top pick. And now? Maybe a playoff birth…. there, now you all have ‘heard’ of a team tanking on purpose

fangsraiders

Mcfadden20. Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Dr_robert Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 12:05 am
Mistic1 Tha Supavillain Says:
November 4th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
I had the pleasure of watching newton vs rgIII in a historic ,match up of qbs, the likes of which have never been seen before today. They put on a dazzling display of toughness, and amazing talent, slugging it out over a hard fought 4 quarters. The qbs had almost identical numbers through the first half, but cam newton was just too much for the depleted over matched redskin defense. The redskin line crumbled in the 4th quarter giving up sacks and making penalties. They made perfect passes, and flashed their once in a generation athleticism and it was quite the spectacle. A new day in the nfl for sure ====================================== WHAT…”THE BABOON LOSER BOWL”….what a pathetic game it was…set the NFL back 100 years. = ANDREW LUCK IS A REAL QB!!!AND A WINNER !!!!UNLIKE YOUR BABOON LOSERS

MEX_GHOST

661.nycraider Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:14 am
Marks Hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:11 am
The only thing that would have helped mark is the top pick or the playoffs. Anything else only lowers the value of his team.. Attendance will continue to drop
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we are 2 games behind the colts , 1 game game behind the dolphins and chargers for the last wild card. there are 8 games left to play. yesterday was a tough loss but im not ready to quit on the season
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Only give up when mathematically you´re out, not now!.

RussianRaider

The sad thing is that the Raiders played better without McFadden than with him. Reece is more versatile and catches the ball better. They can draft or pick up an RB to play as well as McFadden does. If it is a high ankle sprain, his time in Oakland is done (as I assume he’s out for the season, as he usually is after ANY leg injury).

Everybody needs to STFU about Palmer. Was he out there making Doug Martin look a mix of Earl Campbell and Barry Sanders? Was he running incorrect routes and dropping passes? Was he playing offensive line and not providing any protection? I’ll tell you what he was doing…LEADING. The Raiders could have easily packed it in at 28-10 or 35-17. Yes, they lost and Palmer’s pick was a rough one, but they wouldn’t have had a chance without him leading them down the field with no running game (so Tampa’s D could sit back KNOWING a pass was coming) and with a terrible O Line (where Tampa could just rush the passer, again no threat of a run). To blame Palmer for this loss is simply delusional. Yes he threw the pick, but he also gave them their only chance to win despite being sabotaged by his O-Line, running back, defense and coaching!

nycraider

Marks Hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Ive never liked knapp as a coach. Dont want him here next yr. It starts with coaching and ends with talent. The rest is bs.
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based on your philosophy , we should tank next year too!! and maybe the year after that..

Marks hair

I swear nobody can see past victory monday.. all that matters is trash talking at work. Bfd

Just Win Baby

Wow, mornings used to be a good time to come in the blogosphere. Not so much anymore, huh?

On a brighter note we will have a new pres tomorrow. One that doesn’t let 4 Americans get slaughtered in Benghazi. One that can create jobs and get things done. No more blame game and wealth distribution. Trickle up poverty and socialism have been a disaster.

Cya Hussein, POS

Raiderbuck

#Raiders run D went from 11th in avg (3.9) and per game (102.1) to 27th in avg (4.6) and 21st per game (124.1)
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Vic Tafur ‏@VicTafur

According to ESPN Stats & Information, 197 of Doug Martin’s rushing yards came before contact. …

Pitiful – just pitiful

hwnrdr

Mark, that was ONE…maybe! And I think that they were horrible without Manning and they already really wasn’t that great the last 2 years!

MikieG

I still have ZERO idea why Reggie hasn’t got up off his red afro and made the call to Sterling Moore’s agent..Good god–Reggie has made some nice moves–BEFORE the season started…but his in-season moves have been crap.

Just because he’s not from the Packers practice squad doesn’t mean you can’t sign him Reg…Jesus..pick up the phone man–The Coaches and the GM tout all year long “Anything we can do to make this team better and blah blah blah..”—Not signing Moore isn’t making us better, in fact, its making us worse!

Pick up the phone dude.

Marks hair

Pitiful

mcfadden20.

Marks hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:27 am

As i told you weeks and weeks ago macfadden20, i can see this team sucks.. i just know whats going to happen. So i dont care if we are only 2 games out.. we

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Doesn’t matter if we s9ck or not , if they thought TP is some one who we can groom for future, i’m pretty sure they would have given him chance , you don’t just start using backups, even if you think you don’t got chance to compete for playoffs

Marks hair

724. Just like us… no cp3 and we are winless

MikieG

MistaBrown Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:03 am

On a brighter note we will have a new pres tomorrow. One that doesn’t let 4 Americans get slaughtered in Benghazi. One that can create jobs and get things done. No more blame game and wealth distribution. Trickle up poverty and socialism have been a disaster.

Cya Hussein, POS
+++++++++

Although, I would like to see that…Its not going to Happen–Barry Hussein is going to keep his job. There isn’t a poll that shows Rommel leading overall. Its about the 270…and Mittens is trailing..

hwnrdr

If NE cut Sterling Moore again, I question why? Is it because he is lost on the depth chart with a bunch of talented DBs? But by any means, it wouldn’t hurt!

Guest123 Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:53 am
708. You calling others short-sighted when in fact you are just naive. I don’t think anyone is going to be able to remove the blinders from your eyes.

show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.

——–
marks hair

Marks hair

Many teams go to the youngsters when the seasons over mac20… im not suggesting something novel.

hwnrdr

It could be maybe the coaches do not like what they see in him…maybe…I believe they should put him in on some plays, but has he even been activated yet?

Marks hair

Just like AL huh guys? Nobody values picks.. smart

Marks hair

734. No

Raiderbuck

It’s getting to the point that even i f they win I just can’t enjoy it. And that’s what pisses me off the most

boss01

MikieG Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:08 am

I still have ZERO idea why Reggie hasn’t got up off his red afro and made the call to Sterling Moore’s agent..Good god–Reggie has made some nice moves–BEFORE the season started…but his in-season moves have been crap.

Just because he’s not from the Packers practice squad doesn’t mean you can’t sign him Reg…Jesus..pick up the phone man–The Coaches and the GM tout all year long “Anything we can do to make this team better and blah blah blah..”—Not signing Moore isn’t making us better, in fact, its making us worse!

Pick up the phone dude.

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Sterling Moore already got re-signed by the Patriots to their practice squad.

RaiderDebo

Charlie Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 9:40 am
As Herm said, “You play to win the game!

For better or for worse we are supposed to be Raider fans.
We are covering for Dline inadequacies by throwing 8 in the box. (Branch led the team with 11 tackles) and some pinheads on this blog are criticizing our DB’s.
Tarver is mixing everything imaginable and we still get EMBARRASSED by a rookie running back.
(I told you guys scheme etc. is BS, we need better defensive players).

Knowledgable Raider fans see this year and next as rebuilding years. We have not been able to beat good football teams in a decade. We have been pathetic.

Dennis Allen has a four year contract for a reason.
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No kidding. I think the last good team we beat was Philly in 2009. God, I miss JaMarcus!

hwnrdr

Sterling Moore doesn’t have the playing time to be qualified for the practice squad?

hwnrdr

Debo, I seem to remember our D that game beating Philly. mcNabb was sacked 6 times and couldn’t do crap. But yet, they still had a chance to come back and win because our O kept stalling…and that td pass to Zach Miller was ridiculous for the D’s part! That was one of the few games that the D stepped it up! Maybe because of the pigeon???

boss01

hwnrdr Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:23 am

Sterling Moore doesn’t have the playing time to be qualified for the practice squad?

Albert Bigelow Paine Says:
November 4th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Palmer threw an INT that ended the comeback. W/O Palmer, we wouldn’t have even been in that position. Raiders lost for one reason. The defense couldn’t stop Martin. STFU about Palmer. This team has much bigger problems. Raiders still don’t have enough quality players thanks to Al.

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I agree with this dud. if not for palmer this would have been alot worst. 61 attempts are you efeen kidding me?

mcfadden20.

Marks hair Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:12 am

Many teams go to the youngsters when the seasons over mac20… im not suggesting something novel.

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Season is over? , wtf is this world coming up to , just 1 game back of 2nd wild card spot… if you think we’re not going to go anywhere , why do you want to start backups , our backups suck, lets find out what we got in starters and who we should keep next year and throw the rest in trash bin

McFaddens_Sneakers

hwnrdr Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Debo, I seem to remember our D that game beating Philly. mcNabb was sacked 6 times and couldn’t do crap. But yet, they still had a chance to come back and win because our O kept stalling…and that td pass to Zach Miller was ridiculous for the D’s part! That was one of the few games that the D stepped it up! Maybe because of the pigeon???

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HAHA yes i remember that game. We need that pigeon back on every game.

hwnrdr

Boss, I was asking…I thought he played more than 9 games dating to last year…

mcfadden20.

N if our Receivers could run more than 1 route , you can bet they would have called a different play on that int, our receivers weren’t going to get open on any other route, the play call should have been a rb draw or a screen

Dakota

Raiders sucked, but the Lakers looked better last night, ND is still in it, and it looks like Romney is going to win in a landslide on Tuesday….so overall, not a bad last couple of day.

McFaddens_Sneakers

Why is evryone calling on sterling moore like he is some kind of shut down corner? the guy has been realease more times than a fish in a barrel. let it go regg is not picking him up.

mcfadden20.

What would you Romney supporters get if he wins, million dollar check from him? we would most likely be in the same situation or worse by this time in 4 years, god this politics sh1t is crazy , nobody really wins except those parties bank accounts

RaiderDebo

hwnrdr Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Debo, I seem to remember our D that game beating Philly. mcNabb was sacked 6 times and couldn’t do crap. But yet, they still had a chance to come back and win because our O kept stalling…and that td pass to Zach Miller was ridiculous for the D’s part! That was one of the few games that the D stepped it up! Maybe because of the pigeon???
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Are you kidding me?? Now we’re taking away the dude’s wins as well? Every QB needs it’s D to play well. Just ask Eli, Cutler, Flacco and Big Ben. The few times JR got a little support from our decades-long schitty D, he made the plays to win the game. Clutch as hell, just like he was at LSU. And if you think Palmer is suffering with these receivers, try to remember what JR had in 2009. DHB couldn’t catch a moonball with TWO hands back then let alone one-handed circus catches like the one yesterday. Poor JaMarcus!

The Big Banana

MistaBrown Says:
November 5th, 2012 at 10:02 am
I haven’t watched the game on TV yet but it looked like D Moore ran the wrong route more than 1 time yesterday leaving Palmer hanging out to dry.

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I thought the 2nd play of the game could have been a TD if Moore keeps running like Palmer expected him to. Hard to tell if ball would have been on target but he had his man beat.